Curtis: Should the World Bank consider non-Americans for its next president?
No, the World Bank at this stage of its existence, and the need to preserve some element of normalcy in this US presidential year, should continue to have a US citizen as its president; the US, both through public—and increasingly private—donors remains the world’s largest contributor to the Bank’s work directly and indirectly through partnerships and/or providing seed money. While American power is in relative decline, it is important for the world community to keep that country engaged and for the US population as a whole to recognize that they are part of the world with a responsibility to help in a non-military manner; continuing the practice of having a US-citizen-president of the World Bank will help achieve that objective for at least another decade.
